Chester by-election: is Sunak sunk?
Labour calls prime minister a ‘serial loser’ after Tories’ crushing defeat in Chester
Labour has inflicted a crushing defeat on the Conservatives in the City of Chester by-election, a result the opposition says sends a “clear message” to Prime Minister Rishi Sunak about his leadership.
The Chester by-election was triggered by the resignation of the sitting Labour MP Chris Matheson after a Commons inquiry found he had breached sexual misconduct rules.
But Labour won its biggest majority and share of the vote ever in the constituency. Labour candidate Sam Dixon won 17,309 votes, representing 61.22% of the vote share. She increased Matheson’s 6,164 majority to 10,974, while the Conservatives’ share fell from 38% last time to 22.4% in Thursday’s vote.
Subscribe to The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
The result is the Conservatives’ worst in the constituency since 1832. The Liberal Democrats also underperformed, coming a distant third with 2,368 votes.
The result has given Rishi Sunak a “bloody nose”, the Daily Mail said, and “underlines the scale of his task to remain in office at the next nationwide poll”.
What did the papers say?
“This wasn’t just a bad result for the Conservatives and Rishi Sunak,” said Sky News’ chief political correspondent Jon Craig, “it was a disaster.”
It represents “a terrible start… for Sunak in his first by-election as prime minister, though to be fair it would be harsh to blame him personally for this disaster”, Craig said.
The result should concern the PM, said Nick Tyrone in The Spectator, because Chester is “exactly the sort of bellwether seat that the Tories should either win or be extremely competitive in if they hold any chance of winning the next election”. The Chester by-election “should mark the official end of Sunak’s honeymoon”, he said.
After defeating Conservative candidate and NHS nurse Liz Wardlaw, Dixon said in her victory speech: “Tonight the people of Chester have sent a clear message. They have said Rishi Sunak’s Conservatives no longer have a mandate to govern.”
And shadow work and pensions minister Alison McGovern said that Sunak is already a “serial loser” in an apparent reference to his defeat during last summer’s Conservative leadership contest.
What next?
While he has only been prime minister for just over a month, Sunak is “already facing multiple challenges to his authority from rebel Conservative MPs”, said the Financial Times’s Sebastian Payne.
Tory strategists have earmarked the winter of 2024 as the most likely date for the next general election, which means Sunak has “less than two years to revive the slowing UK economy, improve stretched public services and implement some of the party’s core 2019 manifesto commitments”, Payne said.
Sunak will likely now face “a rolling procession of ‘pop-up’ Tory rebellions”, said Politico’s Annabelle Dickson, with challenges coming the prime minister’s way “on everything from housing policy and onshore wind farms to his stance on China”.
The result may look bad, but it is hard to pin it on Sunak himself, said Chloe Chaplain for i news. “Arguably it is too early into his term for this to be considered a referendum on his premiership, but the result suggests Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer is able to be cautiously optimistic,” she wrote.
Regardless of his part in the defeat, Sunak’s time in office “has become a shipwreck”, said John Crace in The Guardian. “Since getting the top job he’s lacked direction. Lacked purpose. His only mission being to survive another day in office.”
All the prime minister can offer now is “a sense of managed decline”, Crace added. “Trying to stumble on to the next election and hoping to minimise the inevitable losses.”
Sign up for Today's Best Articles in your inbox
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
Arion McNicoll is a freelance writer at The Week Digital and was previously the UK website’s editor. He has also held senior editorial roles at CNN, The Times and The Sunday Times. Along with his writing work, he co-hosts “Today in History with The Retrospectors”, Rethink Audio’s flagship daily podcast, and is a regular panellist (and occasional stand-in host) on “The Week Unwrapped”. He is also a judge for The Publisher Podcast Awards.
-
'A stark choice'
Today's Newspapers A roundup of the headlines from the US front pages
By The Week Staff Published
-
The Vietnamese migrants crossing the Channel
The Explainer 2024 has seen a surge in the numbers of Vietnamese migrants making the illegal passage into the UK
By Richard Windsor, The Week UK Published
-
How to make the most of your leftover pumpkins
The Week Recommends As the Halloween fun wraps up, snap up pumpkins still on sale and don't leave your jack-o-lanterns to rot
By Tess Foley-Cox Published
-
What might a Trump victory mean for the global economy?
Today's Big Question A second term in office for the 'America First' administration would send shockwaves far beyond the United States' shores
By Rafi Schwartz, The Week US Published
-
What is the next Tory leader up against?
Today's Big Question Kemi Badenoch or Robert Jenrick will have to unify warring factions and win back disillusioned voters – without alienating the centre ground
By Harriet Marsden, The Week UK Published
-
Why might The Washington Post's nonendorsement matter more?
Today's Big Question The Jeff Bezos-owned publication's last-minute decision to rescind its presidential preference might not tip the electoral scales, but it could be a sign of ominous things to come
By Rafi Schwartz, The Week US Published
-
Was Georgia's election stolen?
Today's Big Question The incumbent Georgian Dream party seized a majority in the disputed poll, defying predictions
By Richard Windsor, The Week UK Published
-
Will Elon Musk's million-dollar election scheme pay off?
Today's Big Question By offering a million bucks to prospective voters to sign his pro-Trump petition, the Tesla billionaire is playing a risky electoral game — and a potentially criminal one, too
By Rafi Schwartz, The Week US Published
-
How would slavery reparations work?
Today's Big Question Caribbean nations lead call for 'meaningful' conversations on reparations at Commonwealth summit
By Harriet Marsden, The Week UK Published
-
Is legal weed a bipartisan issue now?
Today's Big Question Trump and Harris both favor legalization
By Joel Mathis, The Week US Published
-
Is Labour risking the 'special relationship'?
Today's Big Question Keir Starmer forced to deny Donald Trump's formal complaint that Labour staffers are 'interfering' to help Harris campaign
By Harriet Marsden, The Week UK Published